Luksika faces stiff test in Australia
Luksika Kumkhum will face the test of her life at Melbourne Park, after being drawn against world No 6 and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the Australian Open first round.
Luksika, No 87 in the world, is the only Thai directly accepted into the main draw of the year’s opening major. Last year, as a qualifier the Thai No 1 made it to the second round, upsetting Swede Sofia Arvidsson in the first round before going down to American Jamie Hampton.
But this year, the Thai hopes to repeat that success but will need to beat the big-hitting Kvitova, winner of Wimbledon 2011.
“I have nothing to lose. I will play my own game and try not to give her easy points. I will run and fight for every point,” said Luksika who has yet to win a WTA match this season.
Tamarine Tanasugarn is the other Thai on a mission in Melbourne, but she is due to take part in the doubles only.
After the Australian Open, Luksika and Tamarine will head back to Thailand to take part in the PTT Pattaya Open, at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya from January 26 to February 2.
The other Asian stars to take part in the WTA event are Japan’s top four Ayumi Morita, Kimiko Date-Krumm, Kurumi Nara and Misaki Doi.
Asia will also represented by China’s No 2 Shuai Peng and No 3 Shuai Zhang and Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh. They will take their places in the main draw alongside leading European and Russian stars, Sabine Lisicki, Sorana Cirstea, Vera Zvonareva, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
Of the Asian players, Shuai Zhang comes into the tournament with the best form having won two WTA titles on home ground in China and having reached the final in a third event in Ningbo. Her wins came in Guangzhou and Nanjing.
The Japanese quartet have also enjoyed their best results in Asia: Ayumi Morita was a finalist in Nanjing and a semi-finalist in Kuala Lumpur, Kimiko Date-Krumm was a quarter-finalist in Seoul and Kurumi Nara reached the semi-final in Osaka. Su-Wei Hsieh had a disappointing season, with her best result coming with a quarter-final finish in Kuala Lumpur.
In addition to the 7 Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese stars at least 4 Thai players are expected to compete in the tournament. Luksika Kumkhum has gained automatic acceptance through her ranking and the remainder of the Thai players will compete courtesy of wild cards into the main draw and qualifying rounds.
The tournament will be televised on Siam Keelah “live” on weekdays from 3pm and on NBT and T- Sports on semi-finals and finals day from 4pm. In addition, the tournament will be broadcast “live” internationally each day from the beginning of play.
Tickets for the PTT Pattaya Open are on sale at Bt300, Bt500, Bt800 and Bt1,200.
For more information on the tournament and tickets, call Pentangle Promotions at (02) 3113414/5, visit the website www.pentanglepromotions.com or call Thaiticketmajor on (02) 262-3456, or the website www.thaiticketmajor.com
The PTT Pattaya Open is supported by PTT, Pattaya City, Sports Authority of Thailand, Chon Buri Province, Chang Drinking Water, Peak Sporting Goods, Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya, Futuro, Wilson Sporting Goods, Nation Multimedia Group, Yonex, TOT Public Company Limited, Philips Lighting, Tez Tour and Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.
